Safety crank



1,455,228 L. RUDOLPH SAFETY CRANK Original Filed Aug. 7, 1922 iq l;

May 15, 1923.

INVENTOR I lam remefizzdalvh. I

Patented May 15, 1923;

LAVVRENGE RUDOLPH, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOB, TO RUDY RUDOLPH, OF

- PENSACOLA, FLORIDA.

SAFETY CRANK.

Original application filed. August 7, 1922, Serial No. 580,367. Divided and. this application filed November 15, 1922. Serial No. 601,126. k

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LAWRENCE RUDOLPH, a citizen of the United Eitates, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Cranks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a certain new and useful safety crank for internal com- 'bustion engines, especially those employed in motor vehicles, motorboats and aerial navigating machines. The invention primarily has for itsob'ject to provide a device of the nature stated, in which provision is made to insure a quick uncoupling of the cranking shaft from the engine shaft in the event of a kick back and thus avoid injuring the operator; anotherobject is to provide a cranking mechanism with reduction gearing so as to render cranking easier;

again'it is an object to simplify the con-.

struction of devices of this general character by reducing the number of parts necessary to the proper operation of the apparatus and yet have those parts which are retained constructed in a staunch manner so that the apparatus will last the life time of the engine with which it is employed.

The present embodiment of my invention is a modification of that disclosed in Figures 1 to 7 of my original application filed August 7, 1922, Serial No. 580,367, of which said original application the present is a division.

In this application I make no generic claim to the invention in common between this application and that of my original application as it is the intention in this application to claim only the specific embodiment herein show and described and the equivalents thereof within the terms of the ap pended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 2 is a detail horizontal section on the line 22 of Figure 1.

i In the drawing, in which like numerals and letters of reference indicate like parts in all of the figures, 1 indicates the engine shaft which is provided with the usual clutch element 2 to cooperate with the clutch element 5 of the cranking shaft. The cranking shaft, in the present embodiment of my Figure 1 is an elevation of the invention.

invention, is composed of two sections 1 and 4 held in endwise engagement by means of a coupler 37 so that the two sections, while or gear 47 on the shaft section l while the former meshes with a gear 33" fixed on the shaft section 4.

18 is a spiral gear mounted on the shaft section l to turn with it by the key 42 and held against movement with the shaft axially by the flanged body 43 fixed on the countershaft 31 and having its flanges a l engaging the sides of the spiral gear 18.

10 is a sliding block which operates a lever 48 that is pivoted at 19 to the housing 3 and has its end pivoted at 4C7 to a sliding collar 45 which has rollers 46 to engage the gear 27 when the lever -18 is moved in one direction under the influence of the spring 52 which is augmented by the spring 13 the latter being located in a recess 41 in the frame. The spring 13 engages the sliding block 10, the latter having spiral teeth 19 to cooperate with those of the spiral gear 18 and the block 10 is provided with an extension 50 that is pin and slot connected at 51 to the lever 48.

In operation when it is desired to crank the engine the operator turns the crank 6 in a clockwise direction, after or at the same time thrusting in on the shaft 4@ to cause the clutch members 2 and 5 to mesh.

This operation also causes the gear 18 to move the sliding block 10 from right to left to the position shown in Figure 1, drawing over the lever 48 against the tension of the springs 13 and 52, thus releasing the collar 45 from pressure engagement with the gear 27*. Turning the crank 6 imparts motion to the gears 27, 29, 32 and 33 in the directions of the arrows. Should a kick back occur the directions of rotations would. be reversed and the spiral gear 18 would have its teeth meshing with those of19 of the sliding block 10 and quickly pull the sliding block 10 from left to right in Figure 1,

thereby causing the lever l8 to move the rollers do on the collar 45 to engage the gear 27 and thrust the shaft l l from left to right to unmesh the clutch members 2 and 5."

In order to give the teeth of the gear 18 time to become well meshed with the teeth of 19 of the sliding block before the thrust strains are applied toshift the crank shaft, the parts are so designed that when positioned as shown in Figure 1 there will be a space 20 between the rollers of the collar 45 and the gear 27' which-allows a certain amount of lost motion in the sliding block and lover before the thrusting action on the crank shaft occurs.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawin it is thought the complete construction and operation of. the present embodiment of my invention will be clear to tho se skilled in. the art. i

What I claim is:

1. In apparatus ofthe class described, a support, a two part cranking shaft, means coupling said shaft parts together to move endwise in unison but rotate independently, a clutch. element on said cranking shaft for engaging a mating clutch element on anengine shaft to be cranked, a gear train between the two parts of said 0 'anking shaft, a spiral gear on one offsaid cranking shaft parts and means operative with said spiral 'endwise' in unison but rotate independently,

a clutch element on said cranking shaft for engaging a mating clutch element on an englne shaftto be cranked, a gear train between the two parts of said cranking shaft,

a spiral gear on one of said cranking shaft parts, a sliding block cooperative with said spiral gear, said spiral gear being slidabl'e on its shaft part, a lever device operated by said sliding blockfor moving said cranking shaftto disengage the clutch. 3. In apparatus of the class described,

support. a two part'cranking shaft, means coupling said shaft parts together to move endwise in unison but rotate independently, clutch element on said cranking shaft for engaging a mating clutch element on an engine shaft'to be cranked, a geartrain between the two parts'ofsaid crankingshaft, a spiral gear on one of said cranking shaft parts, a sliding block cooperative with said spiral gear, said spiral gear being slidable on its shaft part, a lever device operatedby said slidingblock for moving said cranking shaft to disengage the clutch,'said sliding block having somelost motion for the purposes described.

' LAWRENCE RUDOLPH. 

